South Dakota Government Blog by Bob Mercer

Monthly Archives: January 2018

Gov. Dennis Daugaard signed HB 1057 into law Tuesday establishing the Madison Cyber Labs aka MadLabs project at Dakota State University. After the ceremony he handed the pen to DSU President Jose-Marie Griffiths (left).

Twenty-five people from across South Dakota are participating in two days of training today and Thursday in Rapid City regarding adverse childhood experiences.

They’re trying to better understand how “developmental adversity affects health and wellbeing,” according to a news release from Children’s Home Society of South Dakota and the Center for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment at the University of South Dakota.

Their fellowships are supported by the South Dakota Department of Social Services, South Dakota Department of Health, Center for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment and Children’s Home Society.

Children’s Home Society was founded in 1893. The Center for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment is a forum for local, tribal, state and federal groups to work against child sexual abuse and other maltreatment in South Dakota.

The Jolene’s Law task force established by the Legislature led to the center’s creation.

Rep. Karen Soli was excused from the first two weeks of the 2018 legislative session and there isn’t a sure prediction in general circulation about when she might be back.

Soli, D-Sioux Falls, has been receiving treatment for cancer.

A member of the clergy, she represents District 15. It’s one of the few areas of South Dakota with three Democrats in the Legislature.

Also from District 15 are Rep. Jamie Smith and Sen. Reynold Nesiba.

Soli, now in her sixth year as a House member, has served three times longer than they have. The men are in the second years of their first terms.

Many legislators from both parties greatly respect Soli for her wisdom and experience. She turns 70 on July 15.

She speaks from the perspective of a long-time church leader whose congregations have spanned so many political, and even apolitical, viewpoints.

Her lead contribution during the 2017 session was prime sponsor of the law establishing the State Government Accountability Board. The lead sponsor in the Senate was the chamber’s president pro tem, Brock Greenfield, R-Clark.

The final version created a four-person board of retired judges and justices who screen complaints about conduct of state employees and work with the office of state attorney general.

Soli then served on two interim panels the Legislature’s Executive Board appointed last year. One was on government accountability. The other was on ballot measures.

Both produced proposals now making their way through the 2018 legislating process. It was enjoyable and enlightening to watch her work and think. Many lawmakers who know her will welcome her contributions again upon her return.

Charles Herreid, a Republican, was elected governor of South Dakota for two terms (1901-1905). He moved to Dakota Territory from Wisconsin in 1882. His statue is part of the Trail of Governors exhibit throughout the Capitol and downtown areas of Pierre. An unknown wag recently put the cap on him.

A nightlight, a broken jaw, a prison sentence: That’s what has happened to this man, according to a news release Thursday from U.S. Attorney Office for South Dakota.

United States Attorney Ron Parsons, announced that a Ridgeview, SouthDakota, man convicted of Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury wassentenced on January 2, 2018, by U.S. District Judge Roberto A. Lange.

Sterlyn Bartlett, age 20, was sentenced to 30 months in custody,followed by 2 years of supervised release, restitution in the amount of $405.44,and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of$100.

Bartlett was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 16, 2017. He pledguilty on October 5, 2017.

The conviction stemmed from an incident on January 10, 2017, in EagleButte, when Bartlett got into a disagreement with his girlfriend on whether ornot to sleep with a light on, which escalated to Bartlett hitting his girlfriend inthe face and ultimately breaking her jaw.

This case was investigated by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe LawEnforcement Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Miller prosecuted the case.Bartlett was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. MarshalsService.# # #

Raymond Sokolov who now lives by most recent account in Detroit, Michigan, wrote the 1980 biography of A.J. Liebling titled Wayward Reporter. This morning, knowing I would need to return the book to the man who loaned it to me, I finished re-reading big chunks of it, for the third time, since it came my way last summer

I’d also received that same afternoon a book of articles Liebling wrote for The New Yorker about a federal-tribal fight out in Nevada; one of the villains as portrayed by Liebling was Pat McCarran, a Republican who was one of the state’s U.S. senators.

This is at least the third time I’ve been through Wayward Reporter in the past months. The first time I read it backwards, of sorts, starting with the post-script, then the last chapter, then the penultimate chapter, and so forth. Then I read it again, start to finish. I’ve picked it up a few times since then, catching passages again.

In the past few days, knowing my time to enjoy it would soon close, I read big chunks again, skipping around, and this morning crushed the final chapters in a burst. Today I take it with me to give back, and promise to myself I shall purchase a copy to own.